'Twilight' star drives fans wild

By: Jess Herbine

Posted: 11/21/08

Over a thousand fans crowded the entrances of San Francisco's Stonestown Galleria Nov. 10, surprising the unsuspecting, understaffed security that was counting on only 300 to 500 people to show - who reads books these days, anyway?

Their naivety resulted in one bloody trip to the hospital, a complete cancellation of the event and a flood of tears. This could only be the work of heartbroken teenage girls, waiting outside since 5 a.m. the previous morning and cutting throats to catch a glimpse of Hollywood's newest heartthrob, Robert Pattinson.

Pattinson embodies the mysterious and dangerous Edward Cullen, antagonist of Stephenie Meyers' bestselling book series: a vampire with a vegetarian diet, "Twilight." He has been touring with Hot Topic around the country in promotion of "Twilight's" movie release.

What is it exactly that obsesses so many fans - mainly, although not limited to, teenage girls - with the story of a girl falling in love with a vampire? Pattinson himself asked his screaming fans in Chicago: "What do you see in Edward? Why are you so attracted to him?"

"And," he recounted, "The completely unanimous response was 'Cause he's so sexy'!"

Pattinson believes that it is Edward's gentlemanliness that compares him to the likes of classic characters Heathcliff and Mr. Darcy, and that these men are so well responded to because of their chivalrousness-not to mention dashing good looks.

Luckily, the rush of stardom and instantaneous sex appeal has not yet gotten to Pattinson's head. "It's so new to me, I can't really be jaded about it …'cause I don't even know what it is," Pattison said.

As for the wild rioting of his tour, Pattinson has a realistic view of all the hype. He explained that the buildup is mostly to do with the character of Edward Cullen, not himself.

But, like its characters, this movie spawned by "Twilight" is much more than meets the eye. It already has a cult following, as well as over 350 fan web sites and a highly-impressive cast and crew. Directed by Catherine Hardwick ("Thirteen," Lords of Dogtown"), written by Melissa Rosenberg ("Step Up," "Dexter"), and starring Kristen Stewart ("Into the Wild"), Billy Burke ("24") and Peter Facinelli ("Damages"), there is a plan to continue the filming of "Twilight's" successors, "New Moon" and "Eclipse," which Pattison has already signed onto.

Pattinson originally auditioned for the role of Edward "for the hell of it," but was later mesmerized by Meyers' fantasy romance and was drawn in by its obsessive fan base.

"I liked the idea of a character which was so specific and people had such a strong opinion of. Going into a project where the audience will already have a very, very hard preconception of what they're actually seeing … a lot of the back story is already set up for you, and you can just kind of fight against it to create a very odd character," Pattison said of the film.

For the future, Pattinson is looking to step out of his stereotypical loner roles and jump back in with fictional society. After finishing this chaotic tour, however, Pattison is anxiously waiting to return home to London to face his own social challenges.

"People ask, like, 'What's it like to play the most beautiful person in the whole world?' and I'll go [home] and start talking to my friends and [say things like], 'Yeah, well this other person asked me how it is to play the most beautiful person in the world, and then I went to this room and there were 5,000 people screaming at me'… I have nothing to talk about to my friends anymore," Pattison joked.

"Twilight" is now playing in theaters nationwide.